Bride Left, Groom Right, Wedding Guest Centre Stage

For most” brides to be” finding their perfect wedding dress is the most important detail on her full and extensive wedding planning “to do list”. Most brides will spend many weeks and months researching websites, seeking advice and trawling bridal magazines, trying to find… just the right dress. It’s an exciting and stressful time but when they do eventually say “Yes to that dress”! there is an audible sigh of relief many happy tears and much champagne from the whole wedding team!

A beautiful wedding gown ready for the brides perfect day

On a different planning list, but no less important, is that of the wedding guest – why does it have to be just right? Well, for the bride it is, of course, her most important day and she wants all her friends and family to be there enjoying it, feeling relaxed and comfortable.Brides and their trusty wedding planning team just love a theme and once that invite arrives the wedding guest will get an idea of what has been her chosen theme for her special day.

Choices can range from Art Deco (think Peaky Blinders and you may be on to a winner for that wedding) Black Tie and Bling or Destination (be it beach, lakeside or mountain top) the wedding guest will begin her exhaustive planning too. Wedding etiquette and who wears what, tends to be little more informal than in weddings in the past but standards should not slip so that a fashion “faux pas “ by one wedding guest can ruin the whole event, particularly when the Bride and Groom checks out their wedding pictures.

Wedding photography is so instant with “reportage” wedding snaps being the order of the day, taken on mobiles and tablets and officially by the wedding photographer so it stands to reason that wedding guests and their outfit choices are all important!

Smile! Your now Husband and Wife!

So what’s the reason behind the role that the wedding guests play within a wedding? They are really there as a witness to agree to support the happy couple – bolstering them up when times are difficult and celebrating their hard earned successes. In the past, weddings were a much smaller affair and sometimes only had the required two witnesses to ensure the ceremony was legal and correct, however numbers are now only determined by the size of the budget and the venue.

Toasting the beginning as the new Mr and Mrs

The word wedding comes from the Anglo – Saxon “weddian” meaning to pledge or promise and could be used for anything from, yes a wedding to an agreement over land, cows or crops! However the Dutch word “vedde” or “vager” stood for a bet or wager that was taken before the joining of the happy couple – hopefully not to see how long the marriage would last?

And the words wedding reception? That comes from the custom of the Bride and her Groom receiving or meeting their guests as husband and wife for the first time – so wedding guests, however many there are, really do play an integral and important part to this very unique and special day.

Our hardworking and knowledgeable team at Compton House of Fashion can form an all important and integral part of any wedding guest outfit planning tick – list and we welcome an opportunity to help steer the most hesitant and confused guest through this part of the exciting wedding plans ahead.

With the cooler months now,hopefully, behind us lets focus on wedding guest dresses that can transition between spring into summer and early autumn and a clear favourite in these wedding guest outfit stakes is the John Charles Shift dress with chiffon overlay shown below in Rosewood pink and floral.

This perfect wedding guest outfit choice tick lots of boxes giving comfort and effortless style and a design that can be used again for other special events.This outfit gives structure but flowing and flattering lines to the bodice and back with perfect coverage for the arms (a must for lots of wedding guests I think we all agree! ) exactly what is needed with uncertain climate and weather with the added bonus of pretty pink hues to enhance any not so tanned complexions.

And a perfect accompaniment for this outfit? a fascinator with exactly the right colour, tone and size – the Rosewood Pink medium sized fascinator with feather, bow and just the right amount of sparkle – perfect indeed!

So from all our Compton House team to your wedding planning team – lets hear it for the wedding guests! – you are super important, you play a crucial part in what is a perfect day and the outfit you pick will help you relax and have fun from beginning to end! But we suggest no wagers or bets at these modern weddings – just lots of love, support and hugs for the new husband and wife, whenever they are needed!